Barbed-wire machine



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

A. MATTESON.

BARBBD WIRE MACHINE. No. 296.339/

Patented Apr. 8, 1884.

(No Model.) 3 Shee.tsSheet 2.

. A. MATTESON.

'BARBED W'IRBMAGHINE. I

Patented Apr. 8, 1884.

m ll u. PEriRiL mmunmn nm. Washhglm ac.

ilnrrnn STATES PATENT @rrrcs.

ADELBEBT MATTESON, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.-

BARBED-WlRE MACHINE.

fiPEC'LEICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 296,339, dated April 8, 188 1.

Application filed January 7,1884. (Nomodela To (all whmw it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ADELBERT hlATTESON, a citizen of the United States, residing in Chicago, county of Cook, and State of .Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvemeats in Barbed-"Wire Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of machines for making barbed wire in which the cable-strands are twisted together as they are drawn through the machine to form double wire or cable, and the wire for the arbs guided at appropriate intervals between the cable-wire, then bent around the same, and finally severed to form the completed barbs.

Patent No. 273,765, of March 13, 1883, is selected as illustrating a barb-wire machine embracing, up to a certain point, an arrangement of mechanism which, with a few minor changes, is suited for a machine embodying my invention, said mechanism being understood to comprise means for drawing the wires through the machine and for twisting the cable-wires. In the machine illustrated in said Letters Patent. the mechanism designed for forming the barbs is constructed and arranged with a view to the manipulation of two barbed wires, in order to form each barb of two wires, and in forming these barbs, the barbwires passing through the cable are bent into the required shape and then severed from the main lines of wire, in order to complete the barbs. The object of my invention is to provide a simple and efficient arrangement of mechanism for manipulating butone barb-wire, by which said mechanism the barbs are made more rapidly than in a machine where two 'barbwires are manipulated. A further object is to provide a vibratory cutter for severing the barb-wire, having a positive cutting action; also to provide a combined cutter and bender which, in addition to its function as a cutter for severing the barb-wire just before the completion of the barb, shall also act as a bender for completing the barb after the barbwire has been severed; and, finally, to simplify the cutting and bending mechanism and to provide novel means for adjusting the vibrating cutter. These objects will be clearly understood i'rom the following description, taken in connection with the annexed drawings, which represent so much of a barbed-wire machine as is necessary for a full understanding of my invention, and in which Figure 1 is a top or plan view of the machine. Fig. 2 represents a transverse section thereof, taken on a vertical plane in front of the wire bending and twisting mechanisms. Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 represent face views of the rotary twister and portions of the bender and the combined cutter and bender, said views serving to indicate the position of said members at certain successive moments in the operation of the machine. Fig. 9 represents a longitudinal section taken on a vertical plane through the machine. Fig. 10 is an enlarged section taken transversely through the hub on which the slide and retaining-pawl for holding thebarb-wire will be arranged. Fig. 11 shows a portion of the finished. barbed wire.

Referring by letter to the annexed drawings, in which like letters denote like parts, A indicates the bed or frame of the. machine, which said bed can be of any form or con struction suitable for supporting the operative members of the mechanism. It is herein shown as being broken away at one end, afull representation of the same not being essential. The two cable-wires B, that are drawn continuously through the machine and twisted so as to form a doublewire cable, and the single barb-wire G, that is intermittingly drawn forward and subjected to the action of amechanism for forming it into barbs at intervals along the cable, will in practice be drawn from any suitable arrangement of spools at one end of the machine-as, forexainple, two of the spools could be mounted in a rotary frame or flier, D, a portion of which is herein shown, and a third spool arranged on a bracket located at the feed end of the machine, at apoint beyond said revolving flier, and in position to allow the wire from the spool to pass centrally through the flier. At the opposite delivery end of the machine means will be provided for drawing forward the cable-wires and reel- IOO ward by the said revolving arms. WVhile these devices for carrying the wires at one end of the machine and for drawing the cable through the machine are not herein shown, since they form no part of my invention, and while they can be made and arranged in a va riety of ways, I have briefly described an arrangement substantially illustrated in the Letters Patent hereinbefore referred to.

E refers to a reciprocating carriage arranged to slide upon suitable ways, E, and adapted to carry the mechanism for twisting the cablewires and forming the barb-wire into barbs at intervals along the cable. This carriage is reciprocated by means of a pitman, E connecting the carriage with a bell-crank, E, pivotally mounted on the frame or bed of the machine, and operated from an eccentric on a rotary shaft at one side of the machine, through the medium of a strap, E, passing around said eccentric, (which latter is not herein shown,) and connected with one arm of the vibratory bell-crank E so that during the revolution of the eccentric the carriage shall be reciprocated through the medium of the members constituting connections between the eccentric and the carriage. Asasimple means for driving the shaft carrying said eccentric, the revolving flier, which is driven in any suitable way by power applied at the feed end of the machine, is connected at its forward end with a hub, D, arranged to turn in a suitable bearing on the frame of the machine, and provided with gear D", meshing with a larger gear, D, on one end of the shaft D, which is mounted in appropriate bearings on one side of the machine, and provided with an eccentric for operating the bell-crank, as already mentioned. This shaft D is also provided at one end with a bevel-gear, D gearing with the gear D on the shaft E that is arranged at the front end of the machine, and at right angles to the shaft D". This shaft E is employed as a means for operating the devices for drawing .the cable through the machine, and for reeling up the sameas, for example, it can be pro vided with a gear meshing with a gear on a shaft carrying a hub having a series of radial arms notched at their ends, as hereinbefore mentioned; and also motion can be transmitted from the shaft E to a reelaxle by an endless belt applied to a belt-pulley, F, on the shaft, or through the medium of any desired arrangement of gearing or other analogous mechanism. The revolving twister G,through which the cable-wires pass, is arranged to turn in a suitable bearing, H, on the reciprocating carriage, and can be conveniently made of a central block or head fitted in asleeve or bushing, that is in turn secured in a second sleeve or ring, 9, arranged to turn in the said bearing H on the carriage. The twister is revolved through the medium of a horizontal spindle, I, secured at one end in the twister and engaging at its opposite end a revolving block or hub, K, that is secured to and turns with the hub D at the front end of the revolving flier.

This shaft, while partaking of the rotary motion of the hub K, in which it is fitted, has a sliding connection with the said hub, for which purpose the latter has an axial bore with one or two longitudinal grooves, k, in which the shaft provided with one or more splines, z i, is received, as in Fig. 10, whereby the shaft and the twister can reciprocate with the carriage as the latter is moved back and forth. The cable wires B pass through passages formed longitudinally through the hubs D K,

which revolve simultaneously with the twister and the flier, while the single barb-wire O, which is carried through the hub D, passes through a slide that is arranged upon the hub- K, said wire being carried forward from the slide to and through a single tube, G, fitted in the rotary twister, and bent at its forward end, that extends out from the face of the twister in such manner as to direct the barbwire between the two cable-wires at a point in front of the face of the revolving twister.

The slideL herein shown is constructed upon substantially the same principle and for the same purpose as the slide employed in the aforesaid Letters Patentthat is to say, it consists of a frame or block provided with a trans versely-arranged guide-tube, L, for the wire,- which said tube is broken away at the middle, in order to expose the wire to the action of a spring controlled retainingpawl, L, that serves to prevent the barb-wire from slipping through the slide during the back movement of the carriage which carries the rotary twister. The said slide L moves back and forward be tween stops L, arranged on a flattened side of the hub K, and is guided thereon by means of the guide tube or tubes L, passing through the said stops on the hub. The extent of the back movement of this slide is limited by one ofthe stops on the hub, while the extent of its forward movement is determined by an adj usting-screw passing through the opposite stop;

or, if desired, a like screw can be provided at each side of the slide. The slide is also provided with an adjustable block, L between which and the retaining-pawlthe wire is held, said block being conveniently adjusted by a screw passing through the side of the slide. By such arrangement,when the carriage commences its back movement, the barb-wire will be held by the retaining-pawl on the slideand the latter pushed back until it is arrested by one of the stops, after which the barb-wire will, during the remainder of the back movement of the carriage, be prevented from further movement, and hence projected from the face of the rotary twister, and thereby pass between the cable-wires to a length sufficient for forming the barb. Any other arrangement, however, of retaining-pawl can be provided for holding the barb-wire during the back movement of the carriage, in order that a sufficient length of wire shall be exposed in front of the twister for forming the required barb.

Up to this point the mechanism which I IIO have described is substantially similar to that shown and described in said Letters Patent, with the exceptions that provision is made for but one barb-wire, and the twister provided with but a single guide-tube for such wire, and also that in place of the bevel-gears and revolving crank and crank-shaft for actuating the pitman connected with the reciprocating carriage, the said pitman connected with the carriage is reciprocated through the medium of the eccentricstrap and bell-crank, which constitutes a simpler means for operating the carriage. In the remaining mechanism, which I shall now describe, some devices will also be found in common with those in said patented machine, and where such devices occur brief mention thereof will be sufficient.

Referring now to themechanism which I employ for forming the barbs, M indicates a former or benderadapt-ed to bend the free end of the barb-wire after the latter has been thrust through the cable; and N denotes a combined cutter and bender adapted to act in conjunction with a knife, 0, fixed upon the face of the rotary twister for the purpose of severing the barb-wire at the proper moment after the free end of the wire has been acted upon by the bender M, and also, after the cut justably secured to one of the arms of a vibratory bell-crank or bent lever, N, pivotally mounted on the carriage at a point opposite the vibratory lever carrying the bender M.

The combined cutter and bender has its upper inner edge-that is to say, its top edge, that is next to the face of the rotary twister adapted to constitute a cutting-edge, while its top end between said inner cutting-edge and its corresponding outer or front edge serves as the bending portion of the device, whereby the cutter and the bender are in close proximity to each other, and in or substantially in the same horizontal plane, in order that the action of the bender shall instantaneously follow the action of the cutter, this being due to a continuous positive motion of the cutter from the time it commences to rise until it reaches its highest point. These twolevers have their upper arms connected together by some suitable connection, such as an extensibleconnective rod susceptible of adjustment in its length, in order to properly adjust the levers with relation to each other, the connection between said levers herein shown being a rightand-left screw, M3, Working in rods M, that are in turn pivotally connected with thelevers. The pivots I? for these levers are mounted in suitable hearings on the reciprocatory carriage, and the levers are subject to the action of springs P", coiled around the spindle of the levers and engaging the levers and the carriage, or arranged in any other suitable or convenient way. The bender M has a shank portion, received in one end of the lever M and secured therein by means of a setscrew, or, and the arm of the lever, carrying said bender, is arranged so that the bender can have a horizontal adjustment. The adjustment of the combined cutter and bender, to the contrary, is vertical, or approximately so; and to such end its shank is set in one arm of the lever N in such manner that when the two levers are in the position shown in Fig. 2 the line of adjustment of the combined cutter and bender shall be substantially at right angles to that of the single bender. These two levers are operated at the proper moment by a cam, Q, arranged upon the horizontal shaft D which latter, through the medium of the devices hereinbefore described, serves to transmit motion to the bell-crank and pitman employed for reciprocating the carriage. This cam acts upon an arm, Q, rigid with the spindle of the lever carrying the combined cutter and bender, said arm being held against the cam by the force of springs P.

As a means for adjusting the lever carrying the combined cutter and bender, in order to vary the extent to which the latter shall be raised when said lever is turned, by reason of the operation of cam Q, I provide a rod, R, applied at one end against the arm Q, that is acted upon by the cam, and at its opposite end adjustably connected with the lower end of the said lever Nas, for example, this end of the rod screws into the lever, so that by turning the rod the relative adjustment of the lever can be effected.

Referring now to Figs. 3 to S, inclusive, Fig. 8 illustrates the relative position of the twister, the bender, and the combined cutter and bender, at a point in the operation of the machine when the barbwire is projected out from the face of the twister to the required extent for forming the barb, and is in position between the two cable wires, ready to be bent into barbs. At this point the two levers are in such position that the bender M lies in the path of the end portion of the barb-wire extending from between the cable-wire, while the combined cutter and twister N is in its lowest position and out of the way of the barb-wire as thelatter is carried round with the revolving twister. As the twist-er revolves, the free end of the barb-wire is arrested by the bender M, and hence the barb-wire bent around the cable-wires, as will be understood by referring to Figs. i, 5, and 6, in which said figures, successively denoting quarter-revolutions of the twister, a series of steps illustrating the different positions of the wire and members operating thereon are shown. When the twister arrives at the pointin its rotation shown in Fig. 7, the combined cutter and twister N will have been raised substantially to the position indicated, so that during a,

IIO

' continuance of the revolution of the twister,

the cutting-edge of the combined cutter and bender will force the barb-wire against the cutter O and thereby sever the wire. This action on the part of the combined cutter and bender is caused by the action of cam Q, which, acting against arm Q, operates the lever carrying the said combined cutter and bender. During such cutting operation the combined cutter and bender is lifted in a vertical plane, and rises in a direction substantially opposite to that in which the knife fixed on the twister is moving, and as the combined cutter and bender is backed by the cam acting on the arm connected with lever N, the resistance of the combined cutter, and bender will be positive, and hence the cut made withapositive stroke, which I find is more efficient than where the cutter is simply backed by spring resistance, tending to hold the cutter, while the knife on the twister forces the wire against the cutter and severs the wire. The cam operates to swing the lever carrying the combined cutter and bender to an extent which not only causes the arm of the combined cutter and bender to rise, and'thereby cause the latter to meet the knife on the rotary twister, butalso to raise the combined cutter and bender after the out has been made,and thereby cause the said device to act upon that end of the barb just severed from the main line of wire and bend the same up,so as to complete the barb. The combined cutter and bender will preferably have a groove formed between its cutting-edge and its outer side, in order that aft-er the wire has been severed the end of the barb shall be received into said groove during the final bending operation of this said end of the barb. It will be seen that the part of the combined cutter and bender designed to bend the wire comes into play as soon as the wire is cut, and that such action is essential to perfectly forming the barb.

Fig. 7 illustrates the position of the parts just before the barb-wire has been severed, while Fig. 8 shows the relative position of said parts just after the wire has been cut and the barb completed. At this last stage of the operation the combined cutter and bender is at its highest point, and the single bender M at its lowest point, the movement of the latter requisite to bring it into such position being necessarily caused by the connection between the two levers N and M. When the two levers are in position to bring the combined cutter and bender and the bender at the points indicated in Fig. 8, the bender M will lie out of the path of the barb, which is carried round with the revolving twister; and in order to allow the combined cutter and twister to clear the barb when it is thus raised, it is provided with a notch, N in its edge next to the bend, so that the latter shall pass said device as it is carried round by the revolvingtwister. As the carriage carrying the rotary twister recedes, the barb-wire is projected out from the face of the latter by reason of its being held by the retaining-pawl carried by slide L, hereinbefore described, and said projecting end of thewire is guided between the cable-wires by means of the tube through which the wire passes. the machine by means already mentioned, and are twisted to form a double-wire cable by reason of the rotation of the-twister through which they pass. When the barb-wire is projected out from the face of the twister to the required extent, the combined cutter and twister will have dropped and the single bender raised into the positions shown in Fig. 3, by reason of the action of the springs, which,as the cam swings round,tend to restore the levers to their first position.

It will be seen that Figs. 4 to 7, inclusive, represent each one-quarter of a revolution of the revolving twister, assuming it to have started from the position shownin Fig. 3, and hence that the barb is completed in one and one'quarter of a revolution of the twister, reckoning from the time the bender M commences to act on the barb-wire, and hence that the barbs can be made in an exceedingly rapid manner.

The positive action of the combined cutter and bender, both in its cutting and bending operation, serves to form the barb more efli ciently than in those machines in which,when the wire is being severed, the vibratory levers are backed by spring resistance, since in machines for forming barb-wire it has been found that the slightest irregularity in the action of any one member operates to affect the entire The cable-wires are drawn through v operation of the machine, and to thereby impair its efficiency.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s

1. In a wire-barb machine, the combination, with a rotary twister having passages through it for the barb and cable wires, and carrying a cutter, and means for bending the free end of the barb-wire, of a combined cutter and bender, substantially as described, and means for operating it to sever the barb-wire just before the completion of the barb, and then to bend one end of the unfinished barb and complete the latter, substantially in the manner set forth. I

2. In a wire-barb machine, the combination, with the rotary twister, and means for bending the free end of the barb-wire, of a pivoted lever provided with a cutter operating in front of the twister to sever the barb-wire, and a cam timed toact upon the lever, and turn the same so as to raise the cutter, and cause it during its rising movement to sever the barbwire, and then bend one end of the latter to complete the barb, substantially as described.

3. In a wire-barb machine in which the barbs are formed from a single wire, the revolving twister provided with passages for the cable-wires, a single tube for guiding the barb-wire, and a cutter, in combination with a pair of levers pivotally mounted on a car-.

riage carrying the revolving twister, the bender M, carried by one lever, and the cornhined cutter and bender N, carried by the remaining one of said levers, substantially as described.

4. The combination in a, barb-wire machine, of the rotary twister carrying a knife, and provided with means for guiding the cable- Wires, and a single barb-wire, with the levers pivoted on a carriage carrying the rotary twister, the bender M, adjustably secured on one lever, and the combined cutter and bender adjustebly secured on the other lever in position to rise and meet the cutter on the rotary twister at one side of the barb, substantially 15 as described.

ADELBERT MATTESON.

Witnesses:

WV. W. ELLIOTT, CHAS. G. PAGE. 

